‘Ten Thousand Flowers’ mural adds color to downtown Kutztown

Driving up Main St., you may have noticed something colorful about Betty’s. A new mural has recently been painted on the wall near the popular wrap and smoothie café. The tall, vibrantly colored flowers stand out on the brick walls of Main St., Kutztown.

Freshman Logan Dellacona says, “Seeing the mural when I first drove into Kutztown was exciting. It makes Main Street welcoming to all who drive by.”

The mural is a part of the Ten Thousand Flowers Project—a project with the goal of bringing together local communities. The project was started in 2018 by an artist by the name of Tim Gibson, who created the first mural in his hometown of Perkasie, PA. Gibson kicked off his six-month tour from Maine to Florida in June with the goal of bringing these lively flower murals to small towns across the country with the hopes of bringing communities together.

Tim Gibson chose Kutztown as a location for the mural and contacted the Kutztown Community Partnership, which nominated Betty’s to be the location. The business then sold food vouchers to fundraise for materials.

The simplistic floral design allows volunteers from the community to help paint the artwork. Over a two day span in August, due to some rainfall, members of the Kutztown community came together to help paint the flowers.

Angela Slavonik, manager of Betty’s, believes the new mural will be a focal point in the town and will hopefully bring new customers into the café.

Slavonik says, “We’re happy to have a piece of art on our building that we feel not only represents us as a business but also can add to our community as well.”